AMERICAN LEGION : Mission Hills Overcomes 7-0 Deficit

Saturday’s American Legion games were not meant for baseball fans or coaches with weak constitutions. Three teams failed to hold leads of two or more runs and this is only the beginning of the season.

Mission Hills (2-0) probably deserves the comeback award for the day. Mission Hills scored eight runs in the ninth inning to erase a 7-0 deficit and edge San Fernando, 8-7.

Sean Sosa had a three-run double to tie the score, then scored the winning run on Pat Van Puivelde’s run-scoring single.

In another game, Newhall-Saugus rallied from a 3-0 deficit by scoring five runs in the eighth inning to beat Studio City, 5-3.

Pitcher Roger Salkeld (2-1) struck out 12 and Travis Regnolds had four hits, including three doubles.

Encino-Crespi not only came from behind to beat Reseda, 8-5, it also had a runner steal home in the process.

Encino-Crespi, which won its second consecutive game, scored five runs in the fourth inning to overcome a two-run deficit and Kevin Thomas added another run in the sixth when he stole home. Thomas had three hits and two stolen bases.

Bobby Hughes collected three hits, including a two-run home run, and pitcher Tim DeGrasse struck out 10 as Van Nuys-Notre Dame defeated Granada Hills-Kennedy, 8-2, to win its second consecutive game.

Van Nuys-Notre Dame benefited from five hits and two walks and scored five runs in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie. Hughes then hit a two-run home run, his first of the season, in the fifth inning.

In the days’ most one-sided game, Jimmy Doushgounian had two hits, stole three bases and scored four runs and J.R. Smith collected three RBIs as Reseda-Cleveland shut out Sepulvada, 13-0, in the season-opener for both teams.

Kirk Surabian (1-0) pitched a seven-hitter, striking out seven and walking one.

Derick Wallace had three RBIs in the first game, and Rex McMackin had three RBIs and pitcher Joel Wolfe had 12 strikeouts in the second as Chatsworth swept a doubleheader from Canoga Park-Chaminade, 9-6 and 6-2.